Saving Grace-Saving Face
by PassionWriter101
Summary: She's back; one more chance, that's all she needed. Her name rang bells, and this time she would be sure it rang for a different reason. Backstage politics would no longer be the source of her success or failure. She was ready to weather the storm, no matter what it threw her way. Melina/Randy Orton/Eva Marie/OC?


**Disclaimer**: I own no one but my original characters, everyone else own themselves. This is purely fiction. Don't sue me.

**Summary**: She's back; one more chance, that's all she needed. Her name rang bells, and this time she would be sure it rang for a different reason. Backstage politics would no longer be the source of her success or failure. She was ready to weather the storm, no matter what it threw her way. Melina/Randy Orton/Eva Marie/OC?

Saving Grace-Saving Face

She looked around at her newly acquired digs, a one bedroom bungalow that was tucked away in a quiet little neighorhood just outside of Orlando, Florida. At 35 years old she didn't feel as accomplished as she should have. She was newly single, ending things with her boyfriend of over a decade. She wasn't broke by any means, but working small promotions and doing signings here and there didn't compare to the check that the WWE cut.

She wasn't back for the money though, she wanted to end her career by preforming on the highest level of them all, and that was WWE. She wanted things to be different this time around. She had been young and dumb in the beginning, making her way through a few of the top superstars. Her boyfriend hadn't been an angel himself, but that's just how things were. The females always took the brunt of the shit that went on backstage.

A standard had to be set for women's wrestling, and she was back to do just that. She was quite upset at first that they were sending her, a veteran of the sport, to developmental. She saw the pros and cons of it, and she welcomed being around the newbies. As confident as she was now, she wasn't ready to be on the main roster. There wasn't one person she could call her friend, everyone she had been close to seemed to have made their exits from the cmpany after her.

From what she had heard, the dynamic backstage was different, but the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. She wasn't back for the politics or drama, she didn't care about who was dating who, Total Divas, or part-timers. She was beyond all of that now, and as old as some of her colleagues were, they should be too. Unfortunately for her she knew that to be false, she could already hear the whispers and see the looks as she walked backstage. She could already feel the cold shoulders from the other divas in the locker-room, the looks from superstars who thought she was still 'that' girl.

She shuddered just thinking about it, yeah, developmental wasn't where she wanted to be, but she'd deal with it until she was truly ready to be thrown to the lions.

She slipped off her flats and pulled her long chocolate locks into a bun atop her head, making her way towards one of the many boxes that littered her living room floor. It was time to start her new life.

* * *

Melina sat on the top turnbuckle, eyes moving from one ring to another. They were all so green, even the ones with so called 'experiance'. No wonder there hadn't been many call ups to the main roster last year, these kids were just learning. She really hoped her rookie at least new how to run the ropes and take a bump. She had came in earlier that morning to work off her ring rust with Fit Finlay, it had been nice seeing a familiar face.

He worked with her for three hours until the newbies started to fill in. She left for lunch, only going across the street to a local juice bar for a juice and a salad. She messed around on twitter, posting a photo of the performance center with the hash tag: 'I'm Back!'.

Upon retuning all eyes were on her and she loved it. She knew her presance was felt. They had watched as she cut up with Fit and Sara Del Ray. She was able to weed out the ones who knew who she was, while she watched the others ask around. She felt like the big dog on campus, and frankly she was. She had more talent in her left thumb then some of these wannabes.

She glanced at her phone, the newbie she was assigned to was on the brink of being late, and Melina didn't like her time being wasted. She looked around, only a few divas had arrived and they were working with Bill and Sara, so she figured none of them were her rookie. Her eyes caught sight of a head of fiery red hair and watched as the body moved towards her, she smirked, she had been given the case no one wanted.

She watched as the tall red head entered the ring, setting her bag and phone on the outside steps. Melina hopped down from the turnbuckle, moving across the ring and trapping the red head in the corner.

"You're late," She held up her hand, stopping the other woman from speaking. "I don't want to know why and frankly I don't give a damn. You're going to run these rope until I say stop, got it?"

Melina watched as the younger woman nodded timidly, moving back to perch herself back on the turnbuckle. Melina arched a perfectly plucked brow, "What are you waiting for?"

* * *

She wasn't turning fast enough, therefore she wasn't bouncing off the ropes properly. Melina didn't correct her however, there would be time for that, this was only punishment for being late.

"OK," Melina hopped down from the top rope, crossing her arms over her chest. "You can stop now."

The red head collapsed flat on her back in the middle of the ring. Melina nudged her with her foot, holding out a water bottle for her.

"Eva, is it?" Melina asked, sitting in front of the younger woman, crossing her legs Indian style. Eva nodded, thanking her for the water before she gulped it down hungrily. "I'm here to train you, not watch you run ropes. This is gonna happen every time you're late. I know how to wrestle, you don't. And I suggest if you want to learn and get better, be here on time. Understood?"

Eva nodded hurriedly and Melina found it quite strange that she didn't exuded half the confidence she had on 'Total Divas'.

"From now on you're gonna train with me every morning a six o'clock sharp, unless you have NXT, appearances, or other WWE obligations. I won't accept an excuse for anything else."

Eva nodded, still too exhausted to speak.

"Good." Melina rolled out of the ring, leaving the very green rookie with tons of questions.

* * *

Melina dried the last pot, placing it on the rack that hung above the stove. She ran the dishwasher, shutting off all the lights in the kitchen and living room before moving back to her bedroom. She pushed some boxes into a corner, creating a little bit of space in her already cluttered room. She couldn't wait until she was settled in.

She grabbed her phone from the bedside table before making herself comfortable in the middle of her queen sized bed. Her stomach dropped when she saw she had one missed text from her ex, John (Morrison). Her thumb hovered over the delete button, she sucked her button lip into her mouth, worrying the thick flesh between her teeth.

She hit delete, deciding not to let him hinder her more then he already had. There was no room for him in her life anymore, and she refused to let him back in. She sighed tiredly, just the sight of his name made her heart ache.

She still loved him, and she always would, but she wasn't _in_ love with him. She had been, everything about him made her heart swell with love, just the sight of him made her quake. The love she had with John was the realist love she'd ever experianced. There was no doubt in her mind that he was her soul mate. But sometimes soul mates were better off without each other, and while it would be hard, she would do so much better without him.

* * *

Melina pulled open the door to the Preformance Center, the cool air greetung her as she entered. She spoke with Bill for a bit before she moved through the maze of rings. She smiled seeing Eva sitting in the middle of the ring, thumbing away at her phone.

"You don't get extra points for beating me here." Melina sat her things aside and rolled into the ring. She sat in front of Eva, crossing her legs.

"I have rope burn," Eve lifted her shirt, showing of the red marks on her rib cage. "I think I've learned my lesson."

Melina smirked. "Good."

Eva sat her phone down on the mat. "I know I'm gonna sound stupid, but who are you and why are you training me?"

"I'm Melina Perez, former WWE Women's and Divas Champion. I've been wrestling for about fifteen years now." She told her. "They sent me here personally for you, I can see why."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Eva asked worriedly.

Melina smirked, "Just wait and see Red." Melina stood, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Stand up, let's see how well you can take a bump."

* * *

**Authors Note**: I know this is a totally different route from Vernon Hills, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway! Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE Eva Marie, and I think if she works hard and gets better in ring, she'll be a bad ass heel. And she's fucking beautiful too. If Melina ever returned to the ring, I could see them running that division together, because Melina was a wonderful heel and could wrestle her ass off. So thanks for reading and **Please Review!**

XOXO Leslie


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